David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko will be going hell for leather in Germany this weekend, but the two of them will have to produce some incredible action to match these thrilling encounters…

10) Lennox Lewis TKO6 Vitali Klitschko, 2003
Not the finest performance of big Lennox’s career, but surely the most exciting. The 37-year-old Lewis was sloppy throughout, shipping big punches from Wladimir’s big bro, Vitali. However the dreadlocked Brit (and/or Canadian) showed a steady chin and fired back monstrous punches, opening gruesome cuts on Klitschko’s face. Despite Lewis being behind on the scorecards, the referee had no choice but to halt this minor barnburner after six rounds.

9) James Douglas KO10 Mike Tyson, 1990
What an upset. James ‘Buster’ Douglas was a 42-1 underdog against brooding, brutal, ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. However, talented underachiever Douglas came to prove a point and controlled the fight until a sluggish Tyson knocked him down in the eighth round. But Douglas survived and felled the champion after a ferocious uppercut in the tenth. The sight of the ‘baddest man on the planet’ groping on the canvas for his gum-shield shocked the boxing world.

8) Larry Holmes W15 Ken Norton, 1978
If you ever want to see two elite heavyweights doing a fine impression of Rock Em, Sock Em Robots, watch the 15th and final round (below) of this titanic tussle between the ‘Easton Assassin’ Larry Holmes and WBC champion Ken Norton. The two stand and biff haymakers at one another until the bell, bringing the crowd to their feet at the end of a glorious fight which Holmes won by just a single point on the judges’ scorecards.

7) Muhammad Ali KO8 George Foreman, 1974
“Only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick. I’m so mean I make medicine sick.” Muhammad Ali certainly talked the talk before his challenge for George Foreman’s heavyweight title in Zaire, but few expected him to walk the walk against a murderous young puncher. However, in the fight forever referred to as ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’, the 32-year-old’s spellbinding rope-a-dope tactics exhausted Foreman. Ali scored a stunning eighth round KO.

6) Riddick Bowe W12 Evander Holyfield, 1992
The first fight in this classic boxing trilogy is the best, as the brave ‘Real Deal’ Holyfield couldn’t resist getting into a war with the younger, bigger Bowe. The tenth round saw Bowe nearly knock his opponent senseless, before Holyfield returned fire to hammer Bowe to the ropes in the final minute. “Where in the world did Holyfield come up with this!?” screamed the excitable US commentator. Quite. But Bowe did claim the win.

5) Jack Dempsey KO2 Luis Angel Firpo, 1923
Argentina’s ‘Wild Bull of the Pampas’ recovered from seven knockdowns in the first round to send American icon Jack Dempsey clean through the ropes towards the end of a thrilling opening three minutes. The champion got back into the ring, survived the remainder of the round, staggered to his corner and allegedly inquired as to which round he’d been knocked out in. “You’re still in the fight!” roared his trainer. Dempsey promptly got off his stool to knock Firpo out in the next round.

4) Rocky Marciano KO13 Jersey Joe Walcott, 1952
Underdog challenger Marciano was behind on points after 12 brutal rounds against champ Walcott until one punch changed history. In the 13th round, the tiring, 38-year-old Jersey Joe walked on to a crunching blow from Suzie Q – the nickname for Marciano’s right hand – which instantly rearranged Walcott’s facial features. Rocky never lost his title in the ring, retiring as the only undefeated heavyweight champion.

3) Joe Frazier 15 Muhammad Ali, 1971
Put simply, ‘The Fight of the Century’ but, for historical and sporting reasons, it only makes it number three on this list. Two brilliant boxers, both undefeated, both with a legitimate claim to be the champ, fought at a time when being the heavyweight champion of the world was the biggest prize in all sport. The fight was close until Frazier caught Ali with a left hook that would have felled a horse in the final round. Ali got up and survived, but Frazier won a points victory.

2) Joe Louis KO1 Max Schmeling, 1938
The most significant, savage destruction in heavyweight boxing history. Champion Joe Louis found himself a symbol of American pride when he set out to avenge his sole defeat against Germany’s Max Schmeling – who (against his will) had been turned into a poster boy for Nazi supremacy. Louis demolished Schmeling in one and a half vicious minutes, though the two became friends in later life.

1) Muhammad Ali TKO14 Joe Frazier, 1975
The Thriller In Manila was, as Jerry Izenberg put it, Ali and Frazier battling less for the world title than for “the heavyweight championship of each other”. Although both were past their prime at the time of their third, deciding match-up, it made for an exhilarating fight. Trainer Eddie Futch pulled out Frazier before the final round, telling him, “No-one will forget what you did here today.” Ali collapsed exhausted on his stool.